Fireside Chat: The Repositioning of Legacy Projects

The Financial Benefits of Adapting to the Needs of Today's Tenants

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  Yugene Cha

  Partner

  Krueck Sexton Partners

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  Ellen May

  Managing Director, Leasing

  Tishman Speyer

Chicago’s State of the Office Market

The Path Forward for the Loop and the Emergence of Alternative Office Submarkets

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  Tod Lickerman

  Tod is Chief Executive Officer of Cresa, an international Occupier Representation firm focused on real estate occupancy strategies for corporates and institutions. He is also the Founder, Chair and Partner of The Chicago Impact Development Co. which focuses on improving and creating successful communities and promoting resilient and successful neighborhoods in American cities. Tod is a Board Member of FlagShip Facility Services, a leading US based Facility services company. Tod is also an independent investor and advisor to a number of growth companies including the nano-tech company Ultra Small Fibers and the facility tech company EquipID. Tod has over 37 years experience in the commercial real estate field helping to create two of the top 3 global commercial real estate firms; JLL and Cushman & Wakefield. From 2013 - 2017 Tod was instrumental in carving out the international real estate services company DTZ from their Australian parent company and selling the company to a private equity ownership consortium. As CEO of DTZ Tod led growth and M&A acquiring Cassidy Turley in the United States and the international real estate services firm Cushman & Wakefield. After acquisition and integration of 20 companies deploying capital in excess of $4.1B. C&W went public in 2018 and has an enterprise value of over $8B. Education University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, BS Architecture Board Positions • Board Member, Cresa • Chair and Managing Partner, Chicago Impact Development Company • Board Member, Ultra Small Fibers • Board Member, Flagship Facility Services Contact tlickerman@cresa.com

  Cresa

  CEO

  Tod Lickerman

  CEO

  Cresa

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  James Fox

  The company’s Co-Founder and CEO is Jim Fox. In his role as CEO, Jim is responsible for the North Wells Capital investment strategy, fund-raising and financial operations. Jim has been a leader in commercial real estate for over 30 years, most recently as Chief Financial Officer of Home Partners of America (2012-2015) and Chief Financial Officer of Pearlmark Real Estate Partners (1998-2012). Jim, a Certified Public Accountant, earned a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from the University of Wisconsin Parkside and a master’s degree in Business Administration from the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business. Since 2004, he has been an active member on the board of directors of Housing Opportunities for Women, a Chicago not-for-profit, and currently serves as the president.

  North Wells Capital

  Co-Founder & CEO

  James Fox

  Co-Founder & CEO

  North Wells Capital

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  Jen Sweeney

  Jen is Executive Director at Millbrook Properties, where she is responsible for the day-to-day operations of a private property management company that includes over 3 million square feet of office and industrial properties primarily in the Midwest. She is also responsible for hiring the outsourced brokerage teams and lease-up of the buildings. She oversees the implementation of best practices and consistent procedures across the portfolio. She previously worked for JLL, where she was General Manager, VP at multiple high profile office buildings. Jen is past President of BOMA Suburban Chicago and the current President of The Goldie Initiative. She earned a Bachelor's degree from Illinois State University and is a licensed Managing Broker.

  Millbrook Properties

  Executive Director

  Jen Sweeney

  Executive Director

  Millbrook Properties

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  Adam Mitchell

  Adam Mitchell joined Tishman Speyer in 2021 as a Managing Director for Chicago office leasing. Prior to joining Tishman Speyer, Adam was a Senior Managing Director at Savills. He spent over 20 years developing relationships with corporate customers in Chicago and the Greater Midwest, acting as the Chicago Market lead for the company’s Tech Practice Group as well as a member of the Legal Practice Group. While at Savills, Adam leased over 15 million square feet of commercial space in various markets. He holds his BA in International Business and Communications from the University of Iowa.

  Tishman Speyer

  Managing Director, Leasing

  Adam Mitchell

  Managing Director, Leasing

  Tishman Speyer

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  Molly Phelan

  Molly is a partner in the Chicago Office of Siegel Jennings, a national property tax law firm. As a litigator and trusted advisor, she collaborates with Owners, Asset Managers, Acquisition teams and Tax Departments to identify, create and execute property tax reduction strategies. She becomes a member of her clients’ management team. Her goal is to maximize and protect the full potential of real estate assets, minimize related tax liabilities, and resolve disputes with tax authorities and government entities. Molly’s client experience ranges from family owned 1031 portfolios to national commercial investment funds, including special use properties such as hospital campuses to multi-million-dollar manufacturing facilities. Her comprehensive understanding of the commercial real estate market was developed in part through her time as a real estate broker in the Chicago area prior to starting her legal career. Molly regularly represents clients in hearings before review boards, local assessors’ offices, the Illinois Property Tax Appeal Board, and the circuit courts.

  Siegel Jennings

  Partner

  Moderator

  Molly Phelan

  Partner

  Siegel Jennings

The Future of Flex Office and Hybrid Work

Designing and Building the Workplace to Meet the Needs of A Changing Workforce

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  Anish Michael

  Anish Michael is the Chief Executive Officer of Firmspace. He joined Firmspace as its CEO in August 2019 after spending the prior fifteen years as a corporate and real estate attorney to public and private companies, including serving as Firmspace’s outside legal counsel since the company’s inception. His legal and business acumen has driven Firmspace’s effort to scale up the company’s niche professional workplace model over the past three years with great success. Anish’s strategic and visionary approach has propelled Firmspace’s unique position in the flexspace environment. A native of Texas, Anish is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin and also holds a law degree from St. Mary’s University School of Law.

  Firmspace

  CEO

  Anish Michael

  CEO

  Firmspace

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  Wendy Spreenberg

  Wendy Spreenberg is the founder and president of YES! Your Exceptional Space®, a Strategic Partner in the development of Innovative & Flexible Workspaces. YES! is a boutique consulting firm, providing a comprehensive portfolio of services to the coworking and flexible workspace industry. Wendy and her team understand the many layers and complexities that go into creating exceptional workspace—from site selection, experience design, concierge level service, IT infrastructure, staffing, training and operations. She works with a wide array of small entrepreneurial businesses and their leadership. Since 2001, Wendy’s experience has taken her across North America, from Vancouver to Puerto Rico, working with over 80 flexible workspace projects to start new locations, to reposition existing businesses or buildings with entrepreneurs and landlords. Additionally, Wendy is a frequently sought out speaker and podcast guest with local media, Everything Coworking (podcast), at NeoCon Chicago, IIDA, InBIA, WANY (Workspace Assn. of New York) and the Global Workspace Association.

  YES! Your Exceptional Space

  Founder & President

  Wendy Spreenberg

  Founder & President

  YES! Your Exceptional Space

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  Lauren Torres

  Lauren is a key leader in Skender’s award-winning Interiors group, where she directs high-performing project teams to deliver innovative workspace solutions. She has played an integral role in the successful buildouts of prominent offices for renowned organizations, including Motorola Mobility, 1871, Google, Sprout Social, LinkedIn, PepsiCo, AbelsonTaylor and Mondelez. She holds a degree in Computer Graphic Technology from Purdue University.

  Skender

  Project Executive

  Lauren Torres

  Project Executive

  Skender

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  David Stein

  In 1995, David founded Steinco Corporate Real Estate Advisors with a unique vision to bring together all resources necessary in representing office tenants under one roof. The company’s single-minded focus is marshaling tenants through the real estate process to determine whether a lease renewal, relocation, build to suit or purchase strategy will meet the economic and physical goals of an organizations specific facility needs. With the vertical integration of services that includes; brokers, architects, construction managers and IT consultants, Steinco can offer a one stop shop approach in facilitating services for the benefit of tenants only. David has represented many of the largest corporations in the United States, expanding over 18M square feet of office lease transactions. Over the past few years Steinco was nominated by NAIOP for one of the largest office lease transactions in Downtown Chicago “The Awards of Excellence”. David’s experience is national in scale and negotiated one of the largest lease restructure transactions in the State of Colorado for an entity that is part of Homeland Security. Regarded as an expert in the field, David has pioneered Steinco’s innovative negotiation methodology and corporate services platform. During his career he has been recognized by Equity Office Properties as 1 of 50 “Top Deal Makers” in the United States and is frequently called upon by his peers to provide industry outlook for Chicago’s real estate market. In 2006 David Founded Deerpark Investors. Deerpark’s strategy is to use Tenants needs and desires to acquire value add office buildings that meet the goals of both Deerpark and Tenants in the Chicago Metropolitan area. To date, Deerpark has acquired and sold over 750,000 rsf of office buildings.

  Steinco Corporate Real Estate Advisors

  CEO

  Moderator

  David Stein

  CEO

  Steinco Corporate Real Estate Advisors

Enhancing the Workplace Experience & Leveraging Tech

Strategies and Tools for Driving Office Tenant & Talent Retention

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  Scott Goldman

  Scott Goldman is Managing Principal and Co-Founder of Revision Group, LLC, a Chicago-based private investment firm specializing in the development and acquisition of infill commercial real estate. The firm was formed in 2011 and currently owns a portfolio of approximately $50MM of commercial real estate with several additional projects under development. Prior to forming Revision, Scott spent 6+ years with Pine Tree Commercial Realty, a Northbrook-based shopping center development firm, where he headed the firm’s Acquisition platform that was responsible for the acquisition of $250MM of commercial real estate during Goldman’s tenure and had responsibilities overseeing investor relations, asset management, as well as debt and equity finance.

  Baum Revision

  Managing Principal

  Scott Goldman

  Managing Principal

  Baum Revision

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  Jillian Pytel

  SVP

  Newmark

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  Jeffrey Moerdler

  Jeff Moerdler is chair of the Haynes Boone Data Center and Digital Infrastructure Practice and a real estate partner in the New York office. He has more than 40 years’ experience in general commercial real estate law. Jeff’s real estate practice includes acquisitions, sales, development, leasing, and borrower’s side financing. Jeff also has a particular focus on real estate challenges facing communications, technology and energy companies, and represents property owners and telecom companies in telecom real estate matters, particularly in data center development, acquisitions, sales, leases, colocation agreements and service level agreements. His clients include both large national companies and smaller, local clients, and includes representation of landlords and tenants in all types of leases; counseling owners and developers in the acquisition, sale, joint venture, development, and renovation of property as well as sale-leaseback transactions; advising lenders and borrowers in commercial loans; and the representation of all parties in real estate litigation. He is actively involved in settling real estate, partnership, and inter-family disputes. He also represents many not-for-profit entities and is active in health care, senior living, and educational real estate.

  Haynes and Boone

  Partner & Chair, Data Center & Digital Infrastructure

  Jeffrey Moerdler

  Partner & Chair, Data Center & Digital Infrastructure

  Haynes and Boone

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  Zach Smith

  Zach is the Founder of Zauben, a green product and service company reimagining how we think and interact with nature. Zach has been recognized by Forbes 30 Under 30, TIME 100 Best Inventions, Architizer A+ Award for best sustainable product design and actively serves as a board member to Forbes 30 Under 30.

  Zauben

  Founder

  Moderator

  Zach Smith

  Founder

  Zauben